rating: b

A Cool-Toned Holiday Palette

Wet ‘n’ Wild Shimmer the Night Away Eyeshadow Palette ($4.99 for 0.30 oz.) contains eight eyeshadows; one column is a gradient of white to black, while the second column features cool-toned colors in pink, purple, and blue. I bought mine from my local CVS, which only had two of the palette in stock, and it is limited edition.

The white shade is a pale, icy white with a soft frosted finish. It had good color payoff, and it had a soft, blendable texture. MAC Crystal Avalanche has more frost in its finish. theBalm Sassy has more frost and is less icy. Bare Escentuals Cheers is similar but whiter–starker in a way.

The gray shade is a light-medium gray with a soft, metallic finish with a touch of silver sheen. It had so-so color payoff, but the texture was soft and finely-milled. MAC Evening Grey is darker. Guerlain Les Gris has a shade that is barely darker. Giorgio Armani #22 is more metallic. MAC Electra has a smoother finish–more of a sheen.

The dark gray shade is a soft, dark black with subtle brow undertones and a matte finish. It had decent color payoff when swatched, but it performed better on the eye. It is comparable in color to black eyeshadows such as MAC Carbon, NARS Self Portrait 1, and Illamasqua Obsidian.

The black shade is a deep, dark black with a sprinkle of teal micro-shimmer–you don’t really see the shimmer show up on the eye, so it ends up looking mostly matte. It had good pigmentation and was very blendable, which is exactly what you need when you work with such a dark black. Giorgio Armani #1 is more matte, slightly warmer. Le Metier de Beaute is darker, warmer. Milani Pitch Black is very comparable, as is MAC Dark Dare.

The lilac shade is a soft, pink-lilac with a golden shimmer-sheen. This was the “warmest” shade out of the eight. The base color is cool-toned, but the golden sheen brings in some warmth. It was true-to-pan in color, though it is a lighter shade. The texture was very soft but a smidgen powdery. MAC Creative Whim is more purple. Dolce & Gabbana Jewels is similar but doesn’t have any golden shimmer.

The fuchsia shade is a fuchsia-magenta with an iridescent purple shimmer-sheen. It had decent color payoff, but it was the least pigmented in the palette–the texture was kind of crumbly, where the powder just didn’t bind together well. MAC Stylishly Merry is darker. Urban Decay Fishnet is very close in color. MAC Stars ‘n’ Rockets is also similar.

The purple shade is a medium, cool-toned purple with a soft frosted finish. It had decent to good pigmentation, and it performed a bit better on the eye. Wet ‘n’ Wild Dancing in the Clouds has a similar shade that’s a bit cooler-toned. MAC Violet is darker, richer in color–less subdued. MAC Beautiful Iris is similar, a little more blue-based.

When I was testing this palette, the only shade I had real trouble with was the fuchsia shade, because it didn’t bind together well, so there was a lot of fall out to clean-up during application, and I really had to pack it on. It was the kind of shade that you’d apply, move on, and then it would look faded before you finished the rest of your look! Wet ‘n’ Wild’s eyeshadows in this palette have a soft, dense texture that can be a smidgen powdery for the more matte-finished shades. The pigmentation was good overall, with some shades coming in just under, and a couple going above. I noticed slight fading after wearing this palette for eight hours with a base; the slight fading was apparent after seven hours when worn without a base.

P.S. — I’d love to see the palettes have names for each eyeshadow! I thought it’d be fun to try and name them, so here are mine (I’d LOVE to hear yours!): Snow Fairy, Winter’s Edge, Stormy Wind, Knight of the Vale / Morning Glory, Treasured, Icy Delights, Skyline.

The Glossover

The color combination is great, and I like that there is some variety in the finishes--frosts, satins, and mattes. It is a good palette overall, and for most, the major miss (fuchsia) can be overlooked at the $3.99 price point. That blue on the bottom is worth the $3.99 alone--stunning and harder to come by.

Product

Pigmentation

Texture

Longevity

Application

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Where to Buy

This product can be purchased at the following retailers:

Local drugstores (I found mine at CVS)

Sometimes products are discontinued or limited edition, which means that a product may no longer be available at one or more retailers so you may need to shop around for those hard-to-find shades! We try to update products as they become discontinued, and if you discover a product has been discontinued, please help us help others by letting us know.

Disclosure: Temptalia uses affiliate links, which give us a small commission when you make a purchase (given to us by the retailer, at no cost to you). Your purchases help to support the site!

A Grab Bag of Holiday Polish

MAC Glamour Daze Nail Lacquers ($17.50 for 0.34 fl. oz.) include four shades: Endless Night (pale grey pink with iridescent pearl), Everything That Glitters (black with super multidimensional glitter), Girl Trouble (super glitter pink), and In the Limelight (mid-tone creamy mint). Because of the white-colored labeling (instead of black), MAC has tacked on $1.50 to the cost of each polish.

Endless Night is a cool-toned, light-medium beige with iridescent pink micro-shimmer. It’s not quite opaque after two coats. The consistently was a little watery. MAC Quiet Time is darker, no shimmer. Essie Topless & Barefoot is just a smidgen lighter, has no shimmer, and leans slightly pink. Cult Nails Cruisin’ Nude would be similar, though it’s a bit darker–it has the same pink shimmer.

Everything That Glitters is a dark black with multi-colored micro-glitter–lots of blue, pink, and green predominantly. It’s opaque after two coats, and the glitter particles disperse evenly. It is very similar to Butter London The Black Knight from what I can tell.

Girl Trouble is a metallic, cool-toned pink with silver micro-glitter. It is part of the permanent range. The consistency was a little watery. It was mostly opaque after two coats, and it dried down faster than the other three shades. China Glaze Encouragement is similar in color but not metallic. NARS Night Rider is darker.

In the Limelight is a cool-toned, mint green with a cream finish. This was very, very streaky. After I applied one coat, I attempted to apply a second coat, and it was a big mess. The only way I could get it to look half-decent was to glob on a second coat and maneuver my hands by waving them around to get the polish to level out without using the brush. Illamasqua Nomad is much darker, greener. China Glaze Re-Fresh Mint is greener. Zoya Wednesday is darker. MAC Mischievous Mint is very similar.

Everything That Glitters was the best performing shade, because it was opaque after two coats, and the consistently wasn’t too thick or thin, so it applied evenly. Endless Night is a little sheer, and with this kind of color, some might prefer it that way. Girl Trouble will drag if you move too quickly on a second coat, and it didn’t apply as evenly as I’d like. In the Limelight was a nightmare to apply, and in order to get even results, it took over an hour before I could really move my hands, and even then, I took a smudged off a chunk of it just by lightly brushing another finger against it. It doesn’t level well, so be very, very careful when you apply your second coat.

Where to Buy

Sometimes products are discontinued or limited edition, which means that a product may no longer be available at one or more retailers so you may need to shop around for those hard-to-find shades! We try to update products as they become discontinued, and if you discover a product has been discontinued, please help us help others by letting us know.

Disclosure: Temptalia uses affiliate links, which give us a small commission when you make a purchase (given to us by the retailer, at no cost to you). Your purchases help to support the site!

Is This Pink the One for You?

MAC I’m the One Blush ($22.00 for 0.21 oz.) is described as a “mid-tone blue pink.” Like I’m the One, this shade darkened the minute it touched the skin. It looks lighter in the pan, but swatched (and applied!), it is a lightened, medium pink with strong blue undertones–it almost has a lilac-edge to it, but it’s still very much pink first. It has a satin finish, so there is a very subtle natural sheen that’s most apparent the more blended out it is. NARS Gaiety is incredible similar on–swatched, it appears marginally lighter (and for darker complexions, it is more pigmented). MAC Peony Petal is darker, slightly more magenta but the difference is negligible on.

The color payoff was good, but medium complexions or darker, you’ll find that you need to go back at least once, if not twice more, to get enough color to show up on the cheeks–I used MAC’s 116 brush to apply and blend. This blush works well with really heavy, cool-toned smoky eyes as well as cool-toned complexions in general. The texture is firm, but it is still soft and easy to blend out when applied. When I trialed this shade, it lasted seven hours and was slightly faded after a full eight hours.

Where to Buy

Sometimes products are discontinued or limited edition, which means that a product may no longer be available at one or more retailers so you may need to shop around for those hard-to-find shades! We try to update products as they become discontinued, and if you discover a product has been discontinued, please help us help others by letting us know.

Disclosure: Temptalia uses affiliate links, which give us a small commission when you make a purchase (given to us by the retailer, at no cost to you). Your purchases help to support the site!

Feline has been reviewed previously here. As of the last one I purchased (back in 2010), it was still a lovely rich, intensely pigmented black eyeliner with a smooth, creamy texture that stayed put.

I purchased the recently released versions of the other three eyeliners, even though all of them are repromotes. The colors are all exactly the same, but the texture seemed a little drier with the new versions. Not a lot drier, just somewhat, and they’re not as creamy as Feline (so if you hated how creamy Feline was, you may prefer these). It is interesting to see your own evolution, because I remember loving the Kohl Power formula in general (being particularly taken with Feline), but I’m not really into these. They require a lot more building to yield good color payoff. They also have a tendency to look uneven if you don’t, because it’s like the color isn’t actually mixed–it’s black and then pearl, and it mixes as you move the pencil back and forth.

Mystery is a blackened teal. I couldn’t think of a possible dupe for this one. I imagine you could try to apply a black eyeliner and then apply a brighter teal eyeliner over it to yield something similar.

Orpheus is a dirty gray-brown with antique gold. MAC Uniform is a bit greener–more olive than brown/gray. MAC Black Line is blacker.

Mystery was the least impressive; it was a bit drier than the other two, and it required some pressure and several passes to build up the color. It’s definitely possible, but after being exposed to a number of more impressive formulas, it could use greater intensity in a single go. The formula remains smudgeable for a few minutes after applying, but set down and on me, they wear good to great. They make it to eight hours, though with Mystery I could see some had disappeared after eight hours. Raven and Orpheus lasted a full eight hours.

The Glossover

The best part of these is the colors themselves, which have a sultry, smoky edge to them because they are all black-based with colored pearl to bring out a hint of color. I liked that they're not too dark--you can see that each one is different when applied.

Where to Buy

Sometimes products are discontinued or limited edition, which means that a product may no longer be available at one or more retailers so you may need to shop around for those hard-to-find shades! We try to update products as they become discontinued, and if you discover a product has been discontinued, please help us help others by letting us know.

Disclosure: Temptalia uses affiliate links, which give us a small commission when you make a purchase (given to us by the retailer, at no cost to you). Your purchases help to support the site!

Drape Yourself in Swanky Silk

China Glaze Swanky Silk Nail Lacquer ($6.99 for 0.50 fl. oz.) is described as “brilliant beige with peach undertones.” At one angle, it’s a brilliant champagne gold, and when tilted, it gets a little bronzy, almost pink-bronze. The shift is subtle, though–don’t expect a serious duochrome here. I don’t have any other similar shades that have a little shift like this one does. Chanel Delight is a bit darker, less golden. MAC Soiree has a similar story–a little darker, not so golden. China Glaze Jingle Bells has a similar golden coloring.

It seems like a common theme throughout the New Bohemian collection: sheerer color, heavy on the brush strokes. I thought the brush strokes in this particular shade looked more like subtle metallic threads, and they applied rather straight compared to some of the other shades. The consistency was just barely on the thin side, and the color was semi-opaque after two coats. I usually see a week of wear with minor tip wear but no chipping with China Glaze’s formula.

Where to Buy

Sometimes products are discontinued or limited edition, which means that a product may no longer be available at one or more retailers so you may need to shop around for those hard-to-find shades! We try to update products as they become discontinued, and if you discover a product has been discontinued, please help us help others by letting us know.

Disclosure: Temptalia uses affiliate links, which give us a small commission when you make a purchase (given to us by the retailer, at no cost to you). Your purchases help to support the site!

The Sparkle Eyeshadow formula is the brand’s take on glitter with “shimmering pearls and fine glitter” that is crease-free and long-lasting. Bone is nicely pigmented with a good base color along with plenty of sparkle. The sparkle felt well-embedded within the eyeshadow, so fall out during application and throughout wear was minimized. There was some noticeable fall out that occurred throughout the eight hours I wore this, and I did have faint creasing after eight hours of wear (without a primer).

Where to Buy

Sometimes products are discontinued or limited edition, which means that a product may no longer be available at one or more retailers so you may need to shop around for those hard-to-find shades! We try to update products as they become discontinued, and if you discover a product has been discontinued, please help us help others by letting us know.

Disclosure: Temptalia uses affiliate links, which give us a small commission when you make a purchase (given to us by the retailer, at no cost to you). Your purchases help to support the site!